See what’s happening in the Department of Design, including our faculty events and exhibitions, lectures, awards, research, study abroad programs, graduate and alumni honors, and more. Read about department news here. Visit Student Opportunities for current job and internship postings, design competitions, and announcements.
All Design faculty, staff, students and alumni are welcome to contribute news items of interest, event dates and announcements. Please send your news and announcements to artswebhelp@ucdavis.edu.
Susan Taber Avila, professor of Design, recently participated in the World of Wearable Art competition, held in Wellington, New Zealand. Her “In Bloom” creation was a finalist in the awards competition and was included in all of the 2018 30th anniversary performances for this annual event.
A team of students representing UC Davis took the Biodesign Challenge for the first time and came away with the Outstanding Science Award and was runner up for the top prize at the event. Team Sorbit from UC Davis, which included design and economics double major Julie Xu, created a diaper of bacterial cellulose with enhanced absorbency and biodegradability. The event was recently held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Join Jennifer for the installation event of her MFA thesis project: LUMENroute! For one night only the Walnut Park Tunnel in South Davis will come alive as a series of motion-activated light fixtures surround participants with color and light. Then take a moment to enjoy a beautiful evening in the park at the LUMENroute seating area, glowing with light, color, music, and laughs! This project has been created with the support of the City of Davis Arts and Culture Affairs Fund Award and the CITRIS Connected Communities Initiative Mini-Grant.
Beth Ferguson, assistant professor of design, has won an Austin Green Award for the creation of a solar charging station in the city of Austin. Ferguson’s firm Sol Design Lab was the driving force of the project.
The completed project, Electric Drive: The Future of Renewable Energy Mobility, is located on West 2nd Street in Austin.
Design innovation in the Product Design Lab recently found students re-purposing recycled campus street signs into furniture. Under the guidance of Beth Ferguson, assistant professor of design, the students in the new course, DES165 Studio Practices in Industrial Design, created tables, chairs, lighting fixtures and bike racks out of the discarded signs.
A UC Davis design student team was selected as one of six national finalists in the SOFA Chicago CONNECT Competition in November 2017. UC Davis was the only California school among the prestigious design program finalists.
The UC Davis design team consisted of Victoria Chau, Sierra Kennedy, Jessica Jade Lam and Sandra Bae.
Susan Taber Avila, professor of design, has made invaluable contributions to a new book series on fiber art. “Artistry in Fiber” by Anna Lee and E. Ashley Rooney is a three-book series which includes a volume titled “Wearable Art” featuring a foreward by Avila. In addition, examples of Avila’s work appear in all three books.
Brett Snyder, associate professor of design, and Beth Ferguson, assistant professor of design, are part of a group selected for a year-long project bringing together local residents, public officials and experts to develop projects to strengthen resilience to sea level rise, severe storms, flooding and earthquakes.
While at UC Davis, Christina Johnson learned the university’s commitment to innovation and sustainability. As a proud Aggie, Johnson has developed a business Upcycle It Now, which has encompasses that theory.
While majoring in Design it was at UC Davis that Christina took her first class in sustainability with Ann Savageau. From then on she knew sustainable design was her calling, so she is proud to circle back and be able to upcycle a piece of her campus she holds in such high regard.
Presenting the work of undergraduate seniors, “Moving Out, Design by Design Undergraduate Senior Showcase” is an annual juried exhibition that celebrates the breadth, talent, creativity and multidisciplinary coursework from the Department of Design.
What are you doing these days? We want to hear about your life since you graduated with a Design degree. Are you working, attending grad school, or starting a family? Please fill out this form to tell us about your travels, accomplishments or future plans. If you have a website we would like to post a link to that as well.
